How I Turned my eye into little things 
(that I usually walk past and ignore)
and discovered a hidden world

The New Year is upon us. Seems like 2015 was all about doom and gloom, at least as far as international news and events went. It didn't have a big impact on me or my family, but somehow the news were still creeping in and influencing my photography, at least in a sense that traveling did not seem as exciting as usual.

Instead of travelling into exotic locations, I had an opportunity to turn my camera towards my own city (see gallery here) and during the first days of the new year, into little things in the archipelago. I was photographing plants, rocks and surfaces that I literally walk on the fields and forests. It felt like I was scuba diving and photographing the bottom of the Baltic sea and its hidden treasures. However these photographs were all taken on the island, since the water is mighty cold at this time of the year. 

What a wonderful this small world is. The nuances in color, texture and patterns are amazing. The organic patterns and designs fascinated me. I was using a macro lens so I was able to focus close. However, things I photographed are visible to the eye, so it was not like looking at a microscope. It was more like looking at the world reduced in size while playing with small toy soldiers in my childhood. Then I would often start imagining myself in the scene. So that is why these photos are landscapes, I felt I was in the scene, just like a person gazing into a typical or grand landscapes.

These landscapes are ignored. Maybe it is because they are so small. However, I think they are ignored because people are too busy. But it is important to give value to these small things because then you value the big landscapes and the delicate nature of the archipelago or your own surroundings wherever you live.

Artistically it is very challenging, but also important for me to keep photographing the familiar places during different seasons at different stages of my life. The places seem to stay the same, but I just start to see them differently. Yet there are always similar themes in my photographs. In one level that is comforting, somehow I am following my core and trying to interpret my view of the world that has the same basic structure.

So what do these images reveal about myself? Maybe that I am a curious person. Well, I am always looking under the rock. That much is true,  because who knows what kind of a world is right in our grasp (but just hidden), and it just waits us to be discovered.

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In photography gear matters, but it is only a tool. However, macro photography requires some gear that makes it easier. With a specific macro lens you can focus close which is necessary for shots like this. The flash system I was using is not expensive. I found the instructions to build one via Youtube. If you want to learn how to photograph every day objects in a way that transforms them into inner landscapes, contact me for lessons.